Gaming systems have evolved from those which provided an isolated gaming experience to networked systems providing a rich, interactive experience which may be shared in real time between friends and other gamers. With Microsoft's Xbox® video game system and Xbox Live® online game service, users can now easily communicate with each other while playing to share the gaming experience. Moreover, when not playing in tandem, current gaming systems allow friends to track others' gaming experiences and accomplishments.
A key challenge across game platforms today is discovery. That is, the way existing gamers find a game or activity, and the best way for them to tell their friends and others about it. This so-called “viral” phenomenon is a much-sought-after trait for game sites, community sites such as You Tube™, Windows Live™ Spaces, etc., and other social environments (even non-digital). The propagation of games and other media through viral marketing is often more effective than a corporate advertising campaign, and has none of the costs associated with a corporate advertising campaign.
One current method for telling friends about a game a user is playing is through existing communications platforms such as email and chat. Using such messaging systems, users can communicate their gaming experiences to friends, as well as invite their friends to download/purchase and play the game so that the friends can share the same gaming experience. Another option for sharing gaming experiences is where a user simply starts playing a game and a friend spots them online and joins the game.
These types of viral marketing of a game may be referred to as “out-of-game” viral mechanisms, in that a game may spread to friends and friends of friends, etc., but the spread of the game is ancillary to the game itself. That is, there is nothing in the game itself which requires or encourages the viral invite of others as part of the game play. A friend invites another friend to play, or friends find each other online, purely so that the friends can share a common gaming experience. The sharing of the gaming experience between friends in conventional gaming systems does not affect the game itself.